Overthinking Everything?

There is nothing in this world that can trouble you as much as your own thoughts. The fact is – if you have 10 problems, 6 out of them will be completely made up scenarios in your head which have no logical reasoning. We all face problems. Whatever problems/issues (including life-changing, stressful or frivolous etc.) life presents us, whether small or big, we tend to think about them. Then we get lost in thoughts of all types of would have, should have and could haves.  For instance, “what should have done differently”, “what I could have” and so on.  The most common and destructive thing is that we think too much. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of overthinking minor things in life. We overthink every little problem until it becomes bigger and scarier than it actually is. We often want things so badly that we ruin it by overthinking before even it begins. Overthinking can only lead to – sleepless nights, confusion & more confusion, uncertainty, anxiety, stress and finally depression. At last, it will drive you nuts, your brain going wild, creating horrendous scenarios in which you’ll land up while taking certain decisions. Overthinking destroys the happiness that comes from just enjoying something at the moment. Thinking through is a great thing of course. But overthinking can result in becoming someone who stands still in life. You become the victim of your own mind.

Well, do you know one of the main reasons you overthink? Because – You have the time to.  Yeah! You read that right. Overthinking is one of the major human natural behaviors which holds you back from the life that you truly want to live.

I do overthink a lot and it often becomes a bottleneck in many decisions of my life. Thoughts like “I am not talented as so and so”, “What if I don’t make it”, “What if it happens again” just messes with our mind and steals our happiness. It takes a lot of effort & mettle to try to talk to yourself out of these thoughts. I am still learning how to cope up with this thing. And I certainly haven’t reached a level of success high enough to make my insecurities (mostly fear) disappear. Everyone is probably not the most talented person on this planet. I say this because I’m one of them. But I believe everyone certainly has room to grow.

So, dear readers, if you’re one of those kinds of people (who believe that they are not talented or just get trapped in the web of their thoughts), it’s time to get out of the inception of your thoughts and start applying the following habits in your life. I can’t assure you if they would help you every time but then it’s worth a try. As, personally, these simple habits helped me a lot to stop overthinking &  take the right decisions of my life.

1. Learn to become better at making decisions and to spring into action by setting deadlines in your daily life. No matter if it is a small or big decision. Just give some time limit to every thought, and stop it when the deadline finishes irrespective of where you are. This will save much of your time being wasted in overthinking unnecessary stuff.

2. Actions speak louder than words. Taking small steps forward and only focusing on getting one small step done at a time is another habit that works really well. And in this way, you don’t even have to delay things.

 

And yes! It’s not always necessary that your decisions would be 100% right. However much you apply your critical thinking, you might be wrong. So, being comfortable with being wrong and self-introspection can make you a more genuine person and brings a sense of true inner freedom.  

3. You can’t control everything. It’s not always possible to see every scenario in advance. Human makes mistakes and that’s fine. Plus you never know what something will be like until you experience it. Because however much you imagine what any change will be like, you will be surprised by what you discover when you actually engage in the activity. Only this way, you can move forward with a true understanding of what would be the best.

4. Start talking to yourself (we all do this anyway). Start telling yourself “I need to stop thinking now. No, I’m not going to think about this now”. Because we often take the negative worries and thoughts while going to bed and then it all starts buzzing around our mind (Ugh..that’s very frustrating 😖).

 

So, what to do now?

Well, close all your open tabs of your brain. Stop yourself from aimless thinking and divert yourself into doing more interesting things. But yeah! Be picky about what you distract yourself with, and make sure it enhances positive emotion and well-being.  OR Just tell yourself – “Dear mind, Please stop thinking so much! I need sleep 😛” OR Get a fresh new angle on the topic to think. You never know you could learn something new you’d never considered before.

5. Take help from your loved ones or from the people you can trust. It’s always better to seek social support than confining your decisions to your own biases & perspectives. Your social environment plays a big part. C’mon even research has also shown that stress and depression can be reduced by talking to others. Just don’t shut yourself down into the abyss of darkness (which we do most of the time). Just find ways to spend more of your time and attention with those people or sources who/which have a positive effect on you & your life. 😊

 

Well, now the last & most important thing. When you think all paths are blocked, just ask yourself a very simple question –

“What is the worst that could happen?”

When you find the solution of this question, you’d automatically stop overthinking (Yup! Kind of magic, it is).

Life is not a constant steady line. It has an eclectic mix of seasons of happiness, grief, sickness, death, joy and so on.  But most of the time those are not the things that hold us back. It is the socially accepted circumstantial beliefs which mask the real & deeper fears underneath. The thing is – don’t always worry about the perfection of your decisions. Just give your best shot and rest will be taken care by Him. Worrying doesn’t take away tomorrow’s troubles rather it takes away today’s peace. So, stop over-thinking. Whatever has to happen, will happen. Just let it go. Just let it naturally evolve. Maybe it’s not always about trying to fix something better. Maybe it’s about starting over and creating something better. Try to live in the present. Thinking *only* about the present moment rather than the past or any possible future can save much of your time and will also prevent you from overthinking.

At last, in the wisdom of Karen Salmansohn- “Worrying about how things might go wrong doesn’t help things to go right”, stop worrying about what can go wrong, and get excited about what can go right. ✌

 

 

Pic Credits – https://www.tumblr.com/search/quotes%20about%20overthinking